Flint cartridge



May 17, 1966 H. c. GODBE FLINT CARTRIDGE Filed Jan. 27, 1964 ATTORNEY 3,251,203 FLINT CARTRDGE Hampton C. Gotlbe, Salt Lake City, Utah, assigner to Sparlrmaster Manufacturing Company Filed lan. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 340,448 2 Claims. (Cl. 67-7.1)

This invention relates to pyrophoric so-called ilints or spark-producing media such, particularly, as are used in cigarette lighters and the like which will be referred to hereinafteras cigarette lighters, or broadly as lighters, and it has special reference t-o flints and flint-feeding means of a type which can be considered as of cartridge-form of such a nature that the Hint-s may, with their associated feeding mechanisms, be discarded from lighters when exhausted, or depleted past efficient functioning, and replaced by fresh cartridges. y

The invention embodies modifications of that disclosed in the co-pending application of the present inventor, Hampton C. Godbe, and John G. Kaddas, filed February 8, 1963, Serial No. 257,270, now patent No. 3,233,433, granted February 8, 1966 entitled Flint Cartridge and Flints and Flint Feeding Mechanism for Cigarette Lighters and the Like.

It has been pointed out in the above-identified application, Serial No. 257,270, and is equally in point here, that -in conventional lighters a flint of approximately ylg to 1A" in length only, can be accommodated and this flint is forced into sparking engagement with the striking wheel by a relatively long pressure-applying coiled wire spring having at onel end a metal pusher member-to bear against the inner end of the flint, and at its other end it is usually connected with, or at least bears against, la retainer cap having a seating, screw-threaded connection with the lighter body interiorily of the flint-receiving bore. The relative shortness of the flint makes frequent replacement necessary, and such replacement is a tedious, bothersome and challenging operation with occasional loss of parts, such as the spring or screw cap, and attendant exasperation. Also, the permanent small parts rnay suffer damage such, particularly, as kinking, bending or stretching of the wire coil spring, or the stripping of screw threads on other parts.

This replacement task has been found by some lighter users to be so annoying that a great many avoid the problem by using matches rather than lighters, and to the ,palsied, digitally-afliicted arthrit-ic and other partial crip- 4insure continually correct pressure against the flint, and

facilitating theinstallation of such unit in the handling of it, and in its insertion in the lighter.

A further object of the invention is to provide int cartridge means which can replace the flints and pressureapplying means of lighters of known, and widely used, commercial types, thus tending to simplify the flintchanging operation in, and enhance the efficiency of, such lighters to the gratification of the users.

Further, in reference particularly to the flint itself, an

object of this invention, as of that disclosed in the aforementioned co-pending application Serial No. 257,270, is to provide means whereby the user of the lighter may be apprised of the near exhaustion of the flint supply.

lUnited States Patent O vice ilarly designated,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and parts in section, of a simple embodiment of the basic principle ofthe invention in which the flint cartridge includes 4 only the flint and the flint-feeding pressure-applying spring means, encase, over-all by a rupturable film,

FIG. 2 is a View similar to FIG. 1, but omitting the encas'ing film and showing a modification in which a pusher member is interposed between the flint and the pressure-applying spring means,

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2, but showing the flint and pressure-applying spring means contained within a sleeve the lower end of which is screwthreaded for engagement in the usual flint tube of a lighter of conventional form,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, with parts in section, showing a further modification of the flint cartridge for use in a lighter of another form, l

FIG. 5 is a sectional side elevation showing still another embodiment of the cartridge of the invention in a form adapted for use in a lighter of the general character of that shown in the patent of Douglass, No. 1,602,607, dated October 12, 1926,

FIG. 6 is a sectional elevation taken in the plane of line 6--6 of FIG. 5, but omitting the flint tube of the lighter,

FIG. 7 is a plan View of the feed nut of the cartridge of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a perspective View of the guide arm means and feed nut actuator of the cartridge of FIG. 5,

FIG. 9 is a side elevation, with parts in section, showing a lighter of the type covered by the Gimera et al. Patent No. 2,032,695, dated March 3, 1936, and to which type the cartridges of FIGS. l, 2 and 3 are adaptable,

FIG. l0 is a fragmentary side elevation with parts broken away, and parts in section, showing installation of a cartridge of the types of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 in a lighter of the type shown in FIG. 9,

FIG. 1l is a view similar to FIG. 10, but showing installation of a cartridge of the type of FIG. 3.

^ Having reference to FIG. l, in which the simplest embodiment of the invention is shown, it will be seen that the cartridge includes only a liint l and resilient pressure-applying means in the form ofa helical spring 2, the flint and spring being joined in an initially inseparable unit by the application of a spot 3 of adhesive, such as glue, plastic or the like, and additionally the flint and spring will preferably be covered, over-all, with a thin film. or coating 4 (shown exaggerated, and broken away in part, in FIG.- l) of a hardenable plastic substance which, although serving to maintain assembly of the parts during handling prior to their installation in a lighter, will be fracturable after such installation so as not to interfere with proper functioning of the fiint and spring.

In FIG. 2 the assembly of the parts of the cartridge may be the same as that shown in FIG. l, but including,

as an additional element, a pusher member S which may be of metal or of a pyrophoric material which, preferably, when it is engaged by the strik-er wheel, will produce distinctivelyr colored sparks to apprise the user of the lighter that his flint supply is near exhaustion and should be rein the form of cartridge shown in FIG. 2, the liint 1 proper and the pusher member are joined by a spot of adhesive 6, and the pusher member is joined to the spring 2 by the spot of adhesive 7. In this form of cartridge, also, a thin film or coating similar to the film 4 of FIG. 1 will preferably be employed as will be obvious.

In the form of `cartridge shown in FIG. 3, the flint 1, pusher member S and spring 2 are assembled within a 4metal or plastic sleeve 8 having at its lower end a screwthread 9 of diameter and pitch suitable for accommodation in a lighter of conventional, or other, form. Prior to installation in a lighter, and as a salable cartridge unit, the flint 1 and pusher member S may be forced into the sleeve 8 against the pressure of the spring 2 and thus held enclosed by a strip of tape, or other appropriate means (not shown but considered obvious in form and application). In order that the flint, pusher member and spring will not be lost from the sleeve 8 when the retaining strip is removed, the parts are preferably secured together by spots of adhesive 6 and 7, as in the FIG. 2 embodiment of the invention, and to the sleeve 3 by a spot of adhesive 10.

Having reference to the conventional form of lighter shown in FIG. 9, and to the disclosures of FIGS. 10 and 1l, it Will be understood that when replacement of the conventional flint and spring of such a lighter is to be made with the flint cartridge of any of FIGS. l, 2 and 3, the cover 11 of the lighter body 12 is raised and, by gripping the windguard 13, the inner casing 14, which telescopes into the body 12, is pulled out, the retaining cap-screw 15 is removed, and the spring 16, and what remains of the flint 17, if any, are dropped out and discarded. If the user has a cartridge of the form of either FIG. l or FIG. 2, he will then drop it, Hint-end first, of course, into the flint tube 18 of the lighter and slip the inner casing 14 back into the body 12. It is to be noted here that the spring 2 of the cartridge is enough longer than the spring 16 of the original installation to abut against the bottom of the lighter body 12, and the frictional fit of the casing 14 and body 12 is normally sufliciently tight to retain the flint 1 under pressure of the spring 2 for operative engagement with the striker wheel 19.

Where the replacement cartridge is coated with the film 4, the compressionof the spring 2 thus attained will be sufficient to rupture the said film which will then ake olf of the spring and fiint, or spring, flint and pusher member, and will not interfere with eflicient operation of the lighter.

If the user has a cartridge of the form of FIG. 3, he will first remove the strip of tape, if it is present, and drop the cartridge into the iint tube 13 of the lighter until the screwthreaded end 9 of the sleeve 8 mates with the internal screwthread of the flint tube, whereafter he will screw the sleeve 8 home in the flint tube with the flint 1 in engagement with the striker wheel 19 of the lighter.

The cartridge unit shown in FIG. 4 comprises a flint 1, a flint pusher member S and a pressure spring 2, all preferably cemented together by spots of adhesive 3 and 7, substantially the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, but assembled within a sleeve Ztl having a closed end to which the spring 2 may be cemented, as shown at 21, and a head 22 for cooperation with appropriate closure and retaining means of the lighter body which will serve to retain the cartridge in operative assembly within a conventional fiint tube of the body and with the int in striking engagement with the striker wheel of the light- Cil er. The procedure of assembling this type of cartridge with the lighter, and its removal for replacement by another similar cartridge, is believed to be obvious, it being understood that if a strip of tape is used for retaining the flint, pusher member and spring within the sleeve 2li, such strip of tape will be removed prior to insertion of the cartridge within the said body flint tube.

Having reference to the modified form of cartridge unit disclosed in FIG. 5, it will be seen that the flint 1 is a long flint which will require much less frequent replacement than the short flints of FIGS. l to 4. The flint 1 bears against a relatively short pressure-applying spring 2 preferably joined as by a spot of adhesives 3 to the lower end of the flint 1', and to a nut 26 by a similar spot of adhesive 27. The nut 26 is engaged in the end-to-end screw-threaded interior of the iiint tube 28 of the lighter body 29, only fragments of which body are shown, and is provided with a pair of arcuate slots 30 for sliding engagement with a pair of complemental Hint-guiding arms 31 which are joined at their outer ends to a combined stop and actuating head 32.

It will be `obvious that, as in the Douglass lighter hereinbefore referred to, which employs flint feeding mechanism similar in major respects to the nut 26, dint-guiding arms 31 and operating head 32, partial withdrawal of the head 32 and arms 31, as shown in FIG. 5, will enable the user to rotate the head 32 and, through the arms 31, rotate the nut 26 to cause it to advance into, or retreat from, the striker wheel-adjacent, or upper, end of the Hint tube 28, thereby making possible advance of the flint 1 toward the striker wheel to compensate for wear, or removal of 'the nut, arms and head from the body so that they may, along with the spring 2', and any residue of the int 1', be discarded and replaced with a new cartridge comprising, as new, replacement parts, a iiint 1', spring 2', nut 26 and arms 31 with actuating head 32. Of course, when these parts are installed in the lighter body in position for operation, the head 32 will abut against the inner wall 33 of a recess 34 in the bottom wall of the body and its outer, kerfed, face will lie approximately flush with the outer face of such wall. It will be noted, moreover, that the length of the arms 31 is such that when the nut is in contact with inner surface of the head 32, and the flint 1 and spring 2 have followed the nut to this position, which is the disposition of the parts when in new cartridge unit arrangement,

. the arms 31 will form a complete protection for the flint and serve to guard it against breakage when packed or handled.

It will be understood that those parts of cartridges of the types illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, which are not subjected to the heat of the lighter-flame, particularly, or to such heat as would be injurious or destructive, may be made, inexpensively, of plastic material, inasmuch as what little mechanical stresses they are subjected to in use will not, ordinarly, cause their destruction to the point of inoperativeness. Even so, having in mind the fact that a cartridge, in accordance with the principle of the invention, is intended, when no longer functionally effective, to be removed from the lighter, and discarded and replaced with a fresh one, the loss by damage will not be of any great importance.

Furthermore, there are now available plastics which are, in great measure, flame and heat resistant, and this may make possible manufacture of all mechanical parts of the cartridge from such plastics.

Various changes and modifications are considered to be within the principle of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, flint cartridge means for cigarette lighters and the like, comprising in a prepackaged salable entity as a removable, expendable, replaceable, unitary assembly, a substantially cylindrical flint, and pressure-applying means for said flint including a helical spring of a diameter substantially consonant with the diameter of said liint, said flint and pressure- 5 6 applying means being joined together in axial relation by 1,725} 901 8/ 1929 Douglass 67-7.1 encasement end-to-end in a rupturable lm in the form of 1,752,061 i 6/1930 Kassapian 67 7.1 a solidified coating applied thereto to provide said unitary 2 544 249 3 /1951 Baysmn 67 7 1 assembly, whereby, when the flint of a lighter becomes a pusher member is interposed between said int and the 10 spring of said pressure-applying means. 28811608 4/1959 LQCkWOOd 67-7-1 FOREGN PATENTS 1,150,497 8/1957 France. 15 720,639 12/1954 Great Britain.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,234,580 v 7/1917 Stimpson. 1,277,929 9/ 1918 Henrix 67-6.1 EDWARD I. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. AS A NEW ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE,FLINT CARTIRDGE MEANS FOR CIGARETTE LIGHTERS AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING IN A PREPACKAGED SALABLE ENTITY AS A REMOVABLE, EXPENDABLE, REPLACEABLE, UNITARY ASSEMBLY, A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL FLINT, AND PRESSURE-APPLYING MEANS FOR SAID FLINT INCLUDING A HELICAL SPRING OF A DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY CONSONANT WITH THE DIAMETER OF SAID FLINT, SAID FLINT AND PRESSUREAPPLYING MEANS BEING JOINED TOGETHER IN AXIAL RELATION BY ENCASEMENT END-TO-END IN A RUPTURABLE FILM IN THE FORM OF A SOLIDIFIED COATING APPLIED THERETO TO PROVIDE SAID UNITARY ASSEMBLY, WHEREBY, WHEN THE FLINT OF A LIGHTER BECOMES EXHAUSTED OR INOPERATIVE, IT AND ITS PRESSURE-APPLYING MEANS MAY BE REMOVED FROM THE LIGHTER AND DISCARDED AND REPLACED BY A NEW AND OPERATIVE ENTITY OF SAID UNITARY ASSEMBLY. 